Kasich Continues To Criticize Trump Following Charlottesville

Ohio Governor John Kasich has turned up the heat on President Trump in the aftermath of Trump’s shaky position on white nationalists, neo-Nazis, the KKK and other hate groups.

This marks another turn in the evolution of Kasich’s relationship with the Trump Administration. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow explains.

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During an interview on NBC’s Today Show, Governor John Kasich outright condemned the hate groups behind this weekend’s march that turned violent in Charlottesville, Virginia. He said it was terrible that President Trump has not clearly denounced white nationalists, neo-Nazis and KKK behind it.

“Now these folks are apparently going to go other places and they think that they had some sort of a victory. There is no moral equivalency between the KKK, the neo-Nazis, and anybody else.”

On Twitter, for the first time, Kasich ripped white nationalists saying there was no room for them in the Republican Party.

Kasich said during the Today Show interview saying he’s been restrained in his criticism of Trump, though he has been an outspoken critic of him since before Trump became the Republican presidential nominee more than a year ago.

But his stance on Trump’s comments regarding white nationalists in particular has grown stronger in the past couple of months. In late January he tweeted a statement chiding Trump’s travel ban for seven predominantly Islamic countries. Democrats took it further criticizing the executive order as reflecting white nationalist rhetoric. But at a forum in February, Kasich deflected a question about that.

Chow: “Are you concerned that there are white nationalists who have control in the White House right now.”

Kasich: “Look I’ve said all I have to say I’ve been at it for 11, or 12 or 13 days I’m not saying anymore today.”

Chow: “There’s a lot of concern there are people protesting all around the state…”

Kasich: “I just said what I’ve had to say.”

In the Today Show interview, Kasich said that the president is generating a bitterness across the country but stopped short of saying that he would call on Republicans to stop supporting Trump.

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Vice President Pence on Wednesday declined to denounce or distance himself from President Trump's controversial remarks the day before that "there's blame on both sides" for recent violent clashes in Charlottesville, Va., between white supremacist groups and counterprotesters.